Join the good people of UPC as we welcome the Rev. Dr. Cheryl Ann Elfond to the pulpit!
You can join us for worship in our beautiful sanctuary, or right here online. Worship is live-streamed; videos are available here or on Youtube following the service. You are invited! You are always welcome.
The Allure of Upward Mobility
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c; Mark 10:35-45
Union Presbyterian Church
October 20, 2024
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Jane Park Preacher: Rev. Dr. Cheryl Ann Elfond
Welcome
Announcements Jane Park
Prelude Chris Bartlette
“Brightest and Best,” Lani Smith
©2011, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
* Call to Worship Based on Psalm 104 (responsive) Jane Park
One: God stretches out the heavens and shapes the earth.
All: Come and give thanks!
One: God breathes upon us and fills us with life.
All: Come and lift your voices in praise!
One: God loves us and blesses us with everything good.
All: Come and worship!
One: God loves us and surrounds us with love in abundance.
All: Let us worship God!
(from the Mennonite Church Canada)
* Hymn #56 W & R
"Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above”
(Public Domain)
Sing praise to God who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of power, the God of love,
The God of our salvation.
My soul with comfort rich he fills,
And every grief he gently stills:
To God all praise and glory!
What God’s almighty power has made,
In mercy he is keeping;
By morning glow or evening shade
His eye is never sleeping.
And where he rules in kingly might,
There all is just and all is right:
To God all praise and glory!
We sought the Lord in our distress;
O God, in mercy hear us.
Our Savior saw our helplessness
And came with peace to cheer us.
For this we thank and praise the Lord,
Who is by one and all adored:
To God all praise and glory!
Let all who name Christ’s holy name
Give God the praise and glory.
Let all who know his power proclaim
Aloud the wondrous story.
Cast every idol from its throne;
The Lord is God, and he alone:
To God all praise and glory!
* Call to New Life Jane Park
God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Let us embrace this time of confession with honesty and humility.
* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace
We stand before you, loving God, stripped of our pretensions and pride, for nothing we do or say, or do not, can be hidden from you. You hear the angry words we preach to ourselves; you sift through the rubble of hurts we have caused; you see how we stumble, weighed down by all that “stuff” that keeps us from following Jesus.
We stand before you, loving God. As we let go of all that might hold us back, give us the trust to follow Jesus Christ into the abundant life that he offers to each of us. Amen.
* Words of Assurance
Hear the good news! The God who created us in love, loves us with an everlasting love. When we come before God in humility and honesty, God draws near to us with forgiveness and a renewed blessing. Believe the good news! In Jesus Christ, we are loved and forgiven.
* Sharing of the Peace
O God, teach us to be still, and to know that you are God.
Teach us to be still, and to rest in your presence.
May the peace of God be with you.
And also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.
Scripture Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they flee;
at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Praise the Lord!
Time for Young Disciples Rev. Dr. Cheryl Ann Elfond
Music: “Will You Let Me Be Your Servant,” Richard Gillard
©1977, Scripture in Song
Used by permission, CCLI license #CSPL068847
Anthem Choir
“Christ Has No Body Now But Yours,” Steven C. Warner
©2003, World Library Publications, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth yours is the work, to serve with the joy of compassion.
No hands but yours to heal the wounded world,
No hands but yours to soothe all its suffering,
No touch but yours to bind the broken hope of the people of God.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth yours is the work, to serve with the joy of compassion.
No eyes but yours to see as Christ would see,
To find the lost, to gaze with compassion;
No eyes but yours to glimpse the holy joy of the city of God.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth yours is the work, to serve with the joy of compassion.
No feet but yours to journey with the poor,
To walk this world with mercy and justice.
Yours are the steps to build a lasting peace for the children of God.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth yours is the work, to serve with the joy of compassion.
Through every gift, give back to those in need:
As Christ has blessed, so now be his blessing,
With every gift a benediction be to the people of God.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours.
Here on this earth yours is the work, to serve with the joy of compassion.
Scripture Mark 10:35-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:
Thanks be to God!
Sermon “The Allure of Upward Mobility” Rev. Dr. Cheryl Ann Elfond
* Affirmation of Faith (adapted from a creed shared by Rev. Ruth Innes)
We believe in God, Creator and Creating; who gives us steadfast love, shares with us our joy, and sustains us in our suffering.
God’s power is open to us; we trust God.
We follow Jesus the Christ. In him the Word became flesh; in him we are offered forgiveness from sin, renewal from failure, reconciliation from brokenness, and release from despair.
We are guided by the Holy Spirit, God’s presence in the world.
By the Spirit we are called into Christ’s Church, to celebrate his love, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, to share with him in Baptism and to eat at his Table.
Because we are his disciples, his pilgrim people, we seek neither power nor fame and we joyfully covenant with each other to walk together in love, to pray for one another, and to care for one another.
God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.
* Hymn #273 W & R
“Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love,” Tom Colvin
©1969, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
Show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you.
Kneels at the feet of his friends,
Silently washes their feet,
Master who acts as a slave to them.
Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
Show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you.
Neighbors are wealthy and poor,
Varied in color and race,
Neighbors are near us and far away.
Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
Show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you.
These are the ones we should serve,
These are the ones we should love,
All these are neighbors to us and you.
Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
Show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you.
Loving puts us on our knees,
Silently washing their feet,
This is the way we should live with you.
Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
Show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you.
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Prayer Response #489 W & R
“Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” Ken Medema
©1973, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Send us love, send us power, send us grace.
Call for Offering
* Doxology
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” Brian Wren
©1989, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures high and low.
Praise God, in Jesus fully known:
Creator, Word, and Spirit one.
* Prayer of Dedication
* Hymn #358 W & R
"Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”
(Public Domain)
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down,
Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
All thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love thou art;
Visit us with thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
Into every troubled breast;
Let us all in thee inherit,
Let us find the promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning,
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
Come, almighty to deliver,
Let us all thy life receive;
Suddenly return, and never,
Nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve thee as thy hosts above,
Pray and praise thee without ceasing,
Glory in thy perfect love.
Finish then thy new creation,
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in thee:
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
* Benediction
Postlude Chris Bartlette
“All Creatures of Our God and King,” Mark Hayes
©2010, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.
“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.
“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal